Rabih Alameddine ("An Unnecessary Woman," "The Hakawati") talks about his sixth novel, "The Angel of History," and about the German-Jewish Marxist literary critic Walter Benjamin, the “othering” of Arabs in Western societies, and contemporary gay life, among other matters.

The Hugh Tracey Recordings:
Colonial Dance Bands and Bulawayo Jazz

An Englishman who went to Rhodesia in 1920 to run his family's tobacco farm, Hugh Tracey was captivated by the songs his Shona-speaking African workers sang as they toiled in the fields. The songs piqued his interest in sub-Saharan indigenous music, and from 1929 until his death in 1977, he dedicated himself to seeking out and recording African musicians.